“Scent is the most reliable tool for evoking memories.”
The professor's words echoed quietly throughout the classroom.
The sunlight slowly descended on the podium, and the shabbily dressed college students nodded, took notes, or dozed off.
Baek Ju-hyang, a freshman in the Department of Steering, rolled a pen with her fingertips and wrote in small letters on her notebook.
“People tend to remember certain people by their scent.”
She looked out the window and suddenly turned her head.
In the back row of the classroom, a strange male student sat quietly.
A neat coat over a black shirt, a neat and tidy appearance without a single wrinkle.
“Wow, that senior hasn’t graduated yet.”
The friend next to me was gossiping.
"Senior Lee Hae-chan. He's a legend in the perfume industry. They say he makes better perfumes than professors. But his interpersonal skills are nonexistent. He really doesn't get touched by anyone..."
“Are you a returning student?”
“Rather than a returning student… he seems like just someone who keeps going. Doesn’t anyone know that senior?”
Joohyang tilted his head.
A man named Lee Hae-chan did not even respond to the professor's words.
He sat there without blinking or lifting a finger.
Even though he had no expression, somewhere inside his eyes there was a dark puddle.
'Hmm... Senior Lee Hae-chan...'
***
A few days later, while looking for the experimental club room, Joohyang took a wrong turn and stopped at the end of an unfamiliar hallway.A faint light was leaking through the crack in the door where a sign that said ‘No Entry’ was posted.
'No entry...? It's definitely room 233.I did it...'
Joohyang was about to knock on the door, but when he pushed it lightly, it opened easily.
The inside was filled with a strange fragrance.
Cold wood, wet stone, and dust scented with vanilla.
And in the middle of it all, there was Haechan.
'Huh...? You're that senior from last time, right..?'
Haechan was handling a glass flask while wearing black gloves.
On the laboratory table were lined up strange ingredients that were difficult to understand as fragrances.
Gray roses, charred pieces of paper, fragments of old boxes...
As Joohyang tried to close the door silently, Haechan spoke first.
“This area is off-limits.”
“…Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t know...”
Just before closing the door, Joohyang smelled his scent again.
It was an unfamiliar combination, but somehow it was a scent that made my heart flutter.
When their eyes met, Haechan showed no emotion.
“What is this… scent?”
“Why are you curious about that?”
"Ah... I'm also majoring in perfumery... and the scent is unique..."
"It's not a special scent. I'm just testing it out."
"Oh, okay... I'm sorry... I'll go out!!"
After the scent left, Haechan carefully dropped a drop of perfume on his skin.
A faint vapor rose and the scent seeped into his skin, but the desired effect did not occur.
For a brief moment, someone's laughter passed by.
“This perfume is just like you... hehe.”
Her warm voice and smile would vaguely come to mind, then vanish like a watercolor painting. I'd thought I'd been remembering her less often lately, but suddenly, she was seeping into my memory again.
Lee Hae-chan looked into the empty space and whispered quietly.
“…There’s no way that kid will show up again.”
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Sonting❤